Lineman Burned In Accident

January 18, 1985|By Rich Pollack and Neil Santaniello, Staff Writers

A worker was burned seriously Thursday when he inadvertently crossed two power lines on a Florida Power and Light Co. utility pole, causing a ``big ball of fire`` that erupted as the electricity arced.

The gasoline tank of the ``cherry-picker`` truck carrying Kevin Brady, 27, also exploded after one of the downed lines, charged with 13,000 volts of electricity, started a small brush fire at the Delray Dunes development, 12000 Military Trail.

Brady, a lineman for a private firm under contract to FPL, was saved from more serious injury by rubber gloves he was wearing that protected him from the electricity, officials said.

He was in stable condition at Bethesda Memorial Hospital with second-degree burns to the upper part of his body, according to a nursing supervisor there.

``He hooked two separate wires together,`` said site foreman Theron Long. ``It blew up and burned the wires down.``

Brady is employed by Richards and Associates, a Georgia company under contract with FPL to replace a deteriorated utility pole. A new one was erected, and wires were being reconnected when the accident occurred, workers said.

FPL District Supervisor Roland Gardner said Brady did not receive an electrical shock -- as firefighters originally thought -- but was burned by a ``flash,`` a ``big ball of fire`` produced as the electricity arced that set his clothing ablaze.

Just how the flash was produced was not clear, he said. ``I don`t have the details,`` he said.

Brady was driven to the hospital by Dick Clinger, an FPL assistant supervisor who was driving by to check on the work crew when the line went down.

He said he saw Brady ``in flames in the (cherry-picker) bucket.`` He said Brady`s shirt was on fire.

He said he helped Brady climb out of the bucket, which a foreman had lowered, and drove him to the hospital.

During the ride, he said, Brady was ``conscious and talked coherently.``

The accident also knocked out electricity to 2,500 FPL customers west of Delray Beach for 26 minutes, an FPL official said.

Power was restored to all but 100 customers, who had to wait 14 more minutes before their electricity was turned on, he said.

As firefighters doused the truck and brush fire, traffic was diverted for 90 minutes from a 1 1/2-mile stretch of Military Trail.

According to Palm Beach County Fire-Rescue Chief David Horowitz, the fire could not be doused until the power was cut because one of the downed lines ``was feeding it.``

The same line also electrified a chain-link fence surrounding the Delray Dunes complex, he said.

``We had to yell at some people to get away from the lines,`` said one sheriff`s deputy.

Golfers were playing on the Delray Dunes greens nearby, but were in no danger because the blaze was put out quickly, said paramedic Steve Millio.

Deputies cleared the area, ordering customers and employees at an auto parts shop next door to stay away from the fence.

While firefighters waited for the power to be turned off, the fire spread. Eventually, it reached the fuel tanks of the truck Brady had been on, causing the explosion.